私は黒いうすものを買ふために町へ出た。それで旗竿の球を包んで、それで旗竿の先へ三寸幅のひら／＼を付けて、門の扉の横から斜めに往來へさし出した。旗も黒いひら／＼も、風のない空氣のなかにだらりと下つた。私の宅の古い門の屋根は藁で葺いてあつた。雨や風に打たれたり又吹かれたりした其藁の色はとくに變色して、薄く灰色を帶びた上に、所々の凸凹さへ眼に着いた。私はひとり門の外へ出て、黒いひら／＼と、白いめりんすの地と、地のなかに染め出した赤い日の丸の色とを眺めた。それが薄汚ない屋根の藁に映るのも眺めた。私はかつて先生から「あなたの宅の構は何んな體裁ですか。私の郷里の方とは大分趣が違つてゐますかね」と聞かれた事を思ひ出した。私は自分の生れた此古い家を、先生に見せたくもあつた。又先生に見せるのが恥づかしくもあつた。
translation
"I went into town to buy a thin black item." I wrapped the ball on the flagpole with it, attached a three-inch wide palm to the tip of the flagpole, and thrust it diagonally into the street from the side of the gate door. Both the flag and the black palm fell limply down in the windless air. The roof of the old gate of my house was thatched with thatch. The color of the straw, which had been beaten and blown by the rain and wind, had changed in color, taking on a light gray hue and unevenness in places. I stepped out of the gate alone and gazed at the black palm, the white muslin flag, and the red rising sun flag dyed in the ground. I watched it reflected in the straw on the dingy roof. I remember one time when my teacher asked me, "What is the layout of your house like? Is it very different from the one in my hometown?" I wanted to show my teacher this old house where I was born. I was too embarrassed to show it to my teacher.
kanji (pronunciations & definitions)
| 私: I (わたし), me, I (あたくし), I (あたし), I (アタシ) | 黒: black (くろ), black stone, guilt, guilty person | 町: town (まち), block, neighbourhood, neighborhood, downtown | 出: coming out (で), going out, outflow, efflux, rising (of the Sun or the Moon) |
| 球: ball (for sport, games, etc.) (まり), kemari, type of football played by courtiers in ancient Japan, sphere (きゅう), globe | 包: yurt (パオ) | 先: a short while ago (さっき), a moment ago, just now, some time ago, point (さき) | 三寸: three sun (ca. 9.1 cm) (さんずん), something small, short or thin (roughly the size of three sun), stall-keeper, huckster, hawker |
| 付: furnished with (つき), furnished with (づき), furnished with (ツキ), including, including | 門: door (esp. Japanese-style) (と), shutter, window shutter, entrance (to a home), narrows | 扉: door (とびら), gate, opening, title page | 横: horizontal (as opposed to vertical) (よこ), horizontal (as opposed to vertical) (ヨコ), lying down, lying down, side-to-side (as opposed to front-to-back) |
| 旗: flag (はた), pataka (banner), banner (administrative division of Inner Mongolia) | 風: swing (ふり), shake, wave, swinging, appearance | 下: below (した), down, under, younger (e.g. daughter), bottom | 宅: house (たく), home, one’s house, one’s home, one’s husband |
| 屋根: roof (やね) | 藁: straw (わら), straw (ワラ), LOL, LOL (わらい), haha | 葺: roofing (ぶき), roofed with, thatching, thatched with, shingling | 雨: rain (あめ), rainy day, rainy weather, the November suit (in hanafuda) |
| 色: colour (いろ), color, hue, tint, tinge | 薄: Japanese pampas grass (Miscanthus sinensis) (すすき), Japanese pampas grass (Miscanthus sinensis) (ススキ), maiden silvergrass, maiden silvergrass, zebra grass | 灰色: grey (かいしょく), grey (はいいろ), gray, gray, ashen | 帶: obi (kimono sash) (おび), obi (strip of paper looped around a book, CD, etc. containing information about the product), band, belt, strip |
| 所々: here and there (しょしょ), here and there (ところどころ), in places, in places | 凸凹: unevenness (だくぼく), unevenness (でこぼこ), unevenness (とつおう), roughness, roughness | 眼: eye (め), eyeball, eyesight, sight, vision | 着: arrival (ちゃく), arriving at …, counter for items or suits of clothing, nth place (in a race), counter for moves |
| 白: white (しろ), innocence, innocent person, blank space, white go stone | 地: earth (ち), ground, land, soil, place | 染: dyeing (そめ), printing | 赤: red (あか), crimson, scarlet, red-containing colour (e.g. brown, pink, orange), Red (i.e. communist) |
| 丸: circle (まる), circle (マル), entirety, entirety, whole | 先生: teacher (せんせい), instructor, master, sensei, title or form of address for a teacher, master, doctor, lawyer, etc. | 構: structure (かまえ), construction, appearance, posture (e.g. in martial arts), pose | 何: what (なに), what (ナニ), you-know-what, you-know-what, that thing |
| 方: direction (かた), way, person, lady, gentleman | 大分: considerably (だいぶ), considerably (だいぶん), greatly, greatly, a lot | 趣: meaning (おもむき), tenor, gist, effect, influence | 事: thing (こと), thing (こん), matter, matter, incident |
| 生: pure (き), undiluted, raw, crude, raw (なま) | 家: house (いえ), residence, dwelling, family, household | 見: looking (み), viewing, (please) try (to), view (of life, etc.) (けん), outlook | 先生: teacher (せんせい), instructor, master, sensei, title or form of address for a teacher, master, doctor, lawyer, etc. |